This invention relates to control programs for display devices and, more particularly, to an enhanced control program and system for displaying television programs and related data in a window within a larger image, or a so-called xe2x80x9cpicture in picture.xe2x80x9d
Today""s televisions are available with certain advanced viewing features. Such features include the so-called xe2x80x9cpicture-in-picturexe2x80x9d (PIP) function, in which a smaller portion of a television screen displays a first selected program within a larger portion of a television screen displaying a second program. This feature allows the user to watch a xe2x80x9cmainxe2x80x9d program in the full screen while monitoring another program in the smaller, PIP window. Although the ability to view two programs simultaneously is helpful, the user generally cannot use the PIP window for much more than monitoring the program displayed therein.
The PIP feature currently thus has limited benefits, which means a user may decide that such benefits are not sufficient to offset the additional costs of the feature. This has the related drawback of making PIP-equipped television sets more difficult to sell.
Another feature available in high-end or advanced television appliances is the display of television program information in a banner across the top or bottom of the screen. A further related feature is the ability to access information about current and future television programs from a so-called xe2x80x9cElectronic Program Guidexe2x80x9d (EPG) and display it on the television. The available television channels can also be organized by the user into customized xe2x80x9cpreset lists.xe2x80x9d These lists allow users to switch or surf among only those channels which are likely to appeal to the user.
There are also examples of television screens being displayed within windows defined in computer monitors. One such system is commercially available under the name WEBTV. The television screen appearing in the computer monitor in such applications is generally only associated with a limited number of controls and only a limited amount of information.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to make more information, more controls and more features available to users of televisions, and especially features relating to the smaller, PIP window.
This need is all the more pressing as the number of available television channels increases, along with the related programming information.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a control program displays a television picture within a displayed image, such as one on a computer or other device display. The control program has suitable subroutines to selectively invoke or display the television picture so that it appears within a PIP window of the larger displayed image. The television picture corresponds to a particular television program. Not only is a television program displayed in the window, but information corresponding to the television program is also displayed therein. The control program includes a data structure which contains information about current and future television programs, and another data structure which contains one or more preset channel lists, such lists being composed of subsets of the available channels. Significantly, the control program displays various graphical objects within the window. The graphical objects are linked by the control program to subroutines which allow the data structures to be accessed and which allow corresponding information to be displayed when the graphical objects are selected. For example, activation of suitable graphical objects results in the display of information about current and future television programs. Such information can include the time and title of the current and future programs.
In another aspect of the current invention, the control program operates in conjunction with a computer monitor and the television picture is displayed within whatever screen of data is currently present on the computer display.
In yet another aspect of the current invention, the control program operates in conjunction with a television. The graphical objects include buttons for changing channels, cycling either through the channels of a selected preset list, or through all of the available channels. Other buttons enable the user to add or delete individual channels from the preset lists, while still other buttons allow the user to choose between the available preset lists. Suitable programming creates display fields within the smaller television picture, such as the current channel and program title.
Still another aspect of the present invention allows for the detection of a cursor or other selecting device within the PIP window. The television picture itself is divided into an image area where the televised picture appears, and a tool area, generally containing the aforementioned graphical objects. Suitable programming detects when the cursor is within a predetermined portion of the smaller television screen, and when it is, the tool area expands to include additional graphical objects or display areas, and the image area correspondingly contracts. The control program may also rescale or resize the televised image in the image area so that substantially all of such image fits in the image area irrespective of its size. This concept is further developed in the co-owned and co-filed U.S. Patent Application entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and System for Displaying Graphical Objects on a Display Screen.xe2x80x9d